16 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



nutritive qualities, and animals which are fed on siich corn lose weight, 

 so it appears also to interfere with assimilation. In some instances the 

 indigestion which smutty corn produces terminates in inflammation of 

 the fourth stomach and portions of the intestinal canal. In what 

 is termed " cornstalk disease," indigestion followed by delirium and 

 coma is produced in cattle by feeding them on corn which is supposed 

 by some writers to be infested by a minute parasitic fungus. These 

 living organisms are found on the lower leaves of the corn, which, when 

 invaded by those parasites, has a dwarfed appearance. The diseased 

 leaves become yellowish-green, then yellow, and then wither away. 

 Upon closer examination it will usually be seen that there are certain 

 spots, more especially about the base of the leaf, which is closely 

 wrapped around the stalk, having a different discoloration. These are 

 brown, watery-looking objects at first; then darker, and finally dead. 

 Occasionally there are livid red spots and patches in the same situa- 

 tion. These specially affected spots vary in size from mere points to 

 those of several inches across, often longer, in the direction of the 

 veins of the leaf or leaf sheath (Burrill). Whenever this disease ap- 

 pears in a cornfield it is advised that every stalk and leaf in the field 

 should be burned, and that the field be seeded down to grass. The 

 writer has observed during some years, and usually after a spell of dry, 

 warm weather, that cattle grazing on pastures usually considered as 

 sound and healthy have become affected with indigestion, followed by 

 delirium and coma, but he has been iinable to satisfy himself as to the 

 causation of such outbreaks of disease. The explanation of such facts 

 remains a matter of future investigation. Grass growing on wet, 

 marshy land is favorable to the production of dysentery, and we have 

 sometimes seen animals die suddenly while grazing on such pastures, 

 and have traced such deaths to a form of anthrax introduced through 

 the digestive system. Frozen turnips and potatoes produce very dan- 

 gerous attacks of indigestion when eaten by cattle, and grass which is 

 wet by dew or rain, or covered with hoarfrost, should also be regarded 

 as dangerous. The sudden chilling of the stomachs when a quantity 

 of such food is eaten arrests digestion and will also occasion cramp of 

 the stomach and bowels. 



Causes. In tracing out the causation of disease we find in not a few 

 instances that excess is the disturbing element, instead of quality. For 

 example, when cattle are turned into a new and rather luxuriant pas- 

 ture severe attacks of indigestion may result from their eating too 

 greedily, and it is well, under such circumstances, to allow them in such 

 pastures for only a comparatively short time each day, until they 

 become accustomed to their richer and more tempting herbage. The 

 same idea may be applied to different kinds of food which, though 

 wholesome when partaken of moderately, become dangerous when used 

 to excess. 



The manner of eating may also produce indigestion, as food hastily 

 eaten and consequently imperfectly masticated is not properly prepared 



